Australia cricketer David Warner on Tuesday said he felt honoured when he was named as Sunrisers Hyderabad captain again earlier this year. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson returned Warner the armband after leading the side in the 2018 and 2019 seasons respectively.
Warner, who led SRH to their only Indian Premier League title in 2016, was banned from participating in the 2018 edition of the cash-rich league for his part in the infamous Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.
After participating in the 2019 season under the leadership of Williamson, Warner was handed over the reigns of the team once again in February, just one month prior to the actual date of start of the 13th edition of the IPL.
“I don’t see it as a redemption tale, I just see it as an honour to captain the Sunrisers in an IPL franchise. I’ve got a great relationship with the players and the staff and most importantly with the owners, and I’ve expressed my gratitude and I thank them for that,” Warner was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
“I’ll put my thinking cap on and try my best to move us forward to another IPL title. Obviously Kane and Bhuvi (Bhuvaneshwar Kumar) did a fantastic job without me there.
“It’s great to be back and leading. Having Kane there adds so much value and knowledge of the way the game is played as well. Similarly, we rebound off each other with our ideas quite well and obviously playing against him — it helps when you are leading a team.
“But from where I sit, nothing different. I still considered myself a leader when I was there last year, as I said it doesn’t matter if you have a ‘c’ next to your name or not,” he added.
Warner will now get a chance to lead his team to glory in the UAE as IPL chairman Brijesh Patel had last week confirmed to IANS that this year’s league will be played around the September 19 to November 8 window and the same has been communicated to the franchises.